Letters 1-17-14

Speeding: Mahalo for the laughs

The speedsters thread has been some of the most entertaining reading in the West Hawaii Today for a while. I laugh on the complainers not realizing the simple fact of the police just enforcing the laws. Wake up and smell your tickets, complainers. If you don’t like the speed limit, then complain to the Department of Transportation and not to the police for giving you tickets.

I laugh on the “other side,” too, when I read statements like “Speed kills!” As a former race car driver, I certainly can tell you speed does not kill. Drivers who don’t know how to drive kill.

Mahalo for the entertainment.

John S. Rabi

Kailua-Kona

Thanks airport management for doing right thing

A recent letter to the editor triggered this response. I worked at Kona International Airport for a total of 12 years, and no attempt to control “the out of control driving” was made until the present manager came on board.

Everyday sights, early until late, were: speeding motorists ignoring speed limit signs; pedestrian crossings were routinely ignored by the poor motorists; and parking in “No Parking” zones.

Carelessness by motorists was not limited to visitors. A speeding courtesy of a rental bus failed to make a turn, ran off the street and did severe damage — all of which were the product of speed.

I commend the management of Kona International Airport for its willingness to control the motorists who fail to realize they are in control of a lethal weapon. If it takes “gray” police cars to control the “out of control drivers,” congratulations to management for having the guts to do it.

Leslie Thuet

Holualoa

Rooftop solar benefits all electric ratepayers

I am about to completely switch to solar power for my three homes on the Big Island.

Access to solar is my right and the right of all residents in our sunny state. Hawaii should be leading our nation in this one truly clean source of energy that does not put us on the Big Island at risk of massive earthquakes islandwide from the aftermath of fracking.

I am concerned that the recent discussions about grid upgrades miss that point; improvements that allow more solar will save what all ratepayers within four years. If we fail to make these investments now, we will continue to depend on exorbitant rates, pollution of our aquifers and air with no end in sight. Rooftop solar benefits all ratepayers.

Last year, we spent $7 billion on imported fuel, as a result, my electric bill was three times higher than the national average. These crippling rates have to be stopped.

The suggestion that solar upgrades will be a burden on Hawaii ratepayers is ridiculous and ludicrous. Solar is our way out.

Judith Mura

Pahoa

Gathering rights should be upheld

I just wanted to say that Terri L. Napeahi’s letter “Hunting, gathering hearing coming to Hilo,” which ran June 15 in West Hawaii Today, is a great letter. Native Hawaiians and all races used to use the mountains and the sea for gathering purposes.

I strongly feel everybody should have the right to go to the ocean and mountains for gathering and subsistence purposes. After all, human beings should have the right to put food on the dining table. To deny such reasons leads to ill consequences.

Such access also can be for recreational purposes, such as fishing, which is great for the mind and body. It can also lead to putting food on the dining table.

Dean Nagasako.

Honokaa